2021 Annual Wrap-Up Post

As you can see, I’m a bit behind on my annual wrap-up stuff. Better late than never!

2021 was another busy year for me!

I started taking on more editing clients via Quasar Editing, which helped me reaffirm my love of helping speculative fiction authors with developmental edits. I’m way more passionate about analyzing stories for places they could be stronger and helping writers fix plot holes (or inconsistencies) than I am about copyediting.

I co-edited the manuscript for The Dread Machine’s forthcoming anthology Mixtape: 1986 (publishing sooooon!), and helped select the table of contents for their next anthology, Darkness Blooms. I’ll be starting my co-edits on that manuscript in the coming weeks.

In 2021, I also reached out to more Spanish-language authors and offered my translation services to them. I’ve translated several science fiction and fantasy stories from Spanish to English at this point! Only a couple have found homes, but I’m shopping around others and working on new translations.

2021 was an exciting year for me on another front: authors started reaching out to me to ask for my help translating their stories! I’m about halfway through the most recent one, and I’m very excited about it.

My goal for 2022 is to get back into a consistent translation groove, because I enjoy the work. I have two outstanding English to Spanish translations I’ve volunteered to do, and I want to get those finished this year. I’ll have to find a proofreader, because I know my written Spanish isn’t as smooth as my English.

Regarding my own writing, I pulled together my 2021 publications in this 2021 Awards Eligibility post.

According to The Grinder (the submission tracking tool I’ve been using since 2015), in 2021 I:

• made 224 submissions (vs. 483 in 2020),
• received 8 acceptances (vs. 19 in 2020),
• received 210 form rejections (vs. 289 in 2020)
• received 45 personal rejections (vs. 42 in 2020).

That means:

• I received more personal rejections in 2021 than in 2020!
• 3.6% of my submissions were accepted (vs. 3.9% in 2020)!

A 3-4% acceptance rate is a win in my book!

As we move through 2022, I want to:

• grow my editing and translation business,
• blog more regularly,
• make at least 200 submissions for the year,
• keep writing more stories,
• keep writing more poems,
• keep reading more books,
• attend some specfic conventions, and
  (last, but not least!)
• keep helping writers improve their storytelling skills and reach new audiences.

To all who believed in me and supported my writing, editing, and translating endeavors in 2021—I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope to return the favor in kind!

(One final note – if you’d like to request my editing or translation services, you can reach me by:

• Contacting Quasar Editing
• Emailing me at fullstopventures[at]gmail[dot]com
• Sending me a direct message on Twitter @molo_writes.)